Tok Mat We Had No Choice But To Turn Away Boat Of Rohingya Refugees

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SEREMBAN: Malaysia has been left with no other option but to turn away a boat carrying some 200 Rohingya refugees, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic).

The country has “far exceeded” its capacity to host refugees, said the Umno deputy president, adding that some parts of Malaysian cities have become “too concentrated with refugees” and resources to take care of their welfare have been depleted.

“In Malaysia alone, the number of Rohingya are estimated to be around 150,000.

"Receiving the Rohingya at times like this could open the floodgates for more foreign nationals and vessels to approach the Malaysian border and therefore hinder the government's effort to fight Covid-19.

“Malaysia has, prior to the incident, enforced a movement control order which, among others, prohibits foreign nationals and vessels from entering the country," he said in a statement Sunday (April 19).

Mohamad was responding to a Human Rights Watch report on April 18 on the country’s refusal to let a boat carrying Rohingya refugees from entering Malaysian waters.

He said Malaysia’s inability to welcome any more refugees was understandable especially when the government cannot treat them humanely without siphoning resources from other areas.

However, he also said that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) could no longer ignore the plight of the Rohingya and must start engaging Myanmar on providing them with the right to return and continue to live peacefully in the Rakhine state.

Describing the Rohingya issue as a “regional humanitarian crisis of global importance”, Mohamad said Malaysia, with support from the international community, has continued to host those who were already present in the country.

“However, these refugees should then be relocated to a receiving country and a plan to affect this must now be developed and rigorously pursued by all the stakeholders.

“This situation will persist and the Rohingya will continue to be in limbo as long as the core of the problem is not addressed,” he said, adding that temporarily sheltering the Rohingya was not a solution for either the Rohingya or the host nation. -  Star

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